Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS) — Iran has indicated its “readiness” to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, after the U.N. nuclear watchdog last month found uranium enriched to 83.7 percent in the Islamic Republic. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was in Tehran for two days of high-level meetings that “addressed the importance of taking steps in order to facilitate enhanced cooperation, to expedite as appropriate the resolution of outstanding safeguards issues,” according to a statement released by the parties on Saturday. The statement said that the sides ag...
(JNS) — Israel’s Minister of Justice Yariv Levin met on Wednesday with several prominent public figures who drafted a judicial reform compromise proposal to bridge the gaps between the sides. Levin met with Israeli jurist Yuval Elbashan, high-tech businessman Giora Yaron and former National Security Adviser Giora Eiland, who drafted the proposal. Daniel Friedmann, the former justice minister who was also involved in drafting the compromise, did not attend the meeting. On Tuesday, Levin had responded favorably to the outline, with sources fro...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Four states have presidential primaries that fall on the first day of Passover next year and legislation has been introduced in at least two of them, Maryland and Pennsylvania, to change the date. The four states listed on the website of the National Conference of State Legislatures as having presidential primaries on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 are Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island. Passover starts the previous evening, and traditional Jewish law, or halacha, prohibits writing, driving or the use of e...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday criticized as “unworthy” International Atomic Agency Director Raphael Grossi’s statement a day earlier that any attack Iran’s nuclear program would be illegal. “Against which law?” said Netanyahu at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting. “Is Iran, which openly calls for our destruction, permitted to defend the destructive weapons that would slaughter us? Are we permitted to defend ourselves? It is clear that we are, and it is clear that we will do so.” Rafael Grossi, he said, was “a worthy gentlema...
(JNS) — The United States expressed support on Tuesday for an Israeli counter-terror operation in Jenin earlier in the day. During the daylight raid, Israeli forces eliminated the terrorist responsible for the murder of two Israelis on Feb. 26, according to the Israel Defense Forces. “Israel, as we have made the point before, has the legitimate right to defend its people and its territory against all forms of aggression, including, of course, those from terrorist groups,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price during a press briefing. “And w...
(JTA) – A Holocaust-themed novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult was among dozens of books removed from a South Florida school district library’s circulation last month, in the latest example of books with Jewish themes getting swept up amid a larger conservative-led effort to police potentially inappropriate material in classrooms. “The Storyteller” was removed from the library last month at a high school in Martin County, a southeast Florida district, owing to a parental complaint. According to a list of removed books published by local me...
(JTA) - Ben Savage, the Jewish actor best known for the 1990s coming of age series "Boy Meets World," is running to replace Adam Schiff, the Jewish Democratic congressman from California who is running for Senate. Savage, 42, is among at least four Democrats running in the primary to replace Schiff in his Los Angeles-area congressional district. His Instagram post on Monday announcing the campaign focused on good governance. "I'm running for Congress because it's time to restore faith in governm...
KYIV (JTA) — In a historic building in the most industrial part of Podil, the hipster district of Kyiv that once was the heart of the Jewish trading community, a senior and passionate Esther seduces a much younger Ahasuerus. She flirts with the handsome king to the raucous giggling of the audience, which breaks into applause when the Purim shpiel comes to an end. A year and a few days into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Jews in Kyiv and the rest of the country have celebrated Purim in precarious economic and emotional cir...
At 9:34pm Thursday, I got a strange message from my daughter in our family WhatsApp group. “For all those who asked, I am ok and alive.” Since nobody asked, her sarcasm coupled with a little fear were evident. I had been recording a podcast and didn’t know what she was talking about. None of us did. It seems that there was another terrorist attack, this time in central Tel Aviv. I hadn’t heard. Three people were injured, one shot in the neck and as of this writing in critical condition. One terrorist was killed on the spot but there are rep...
(JTA) - A new FBI report found that anti-Jewish incidents increased nearly 20% in 2021 relative to 2020, but decreased relative to prior years. The updated FBI statistics released Monday counted 817 anti-Jewish criminal offenses reported by local law enforcement agencies in 2021, up from 683 in 2020 - a year when people largely stayed off the streets for a substantial period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 numbers, however, represent a 15% decline from 2019, when the FBI reported 963...
Israel’s Supreme Court rules in favor of ‘Utah Zoom weddings’ (JNS) — Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal against registering civil marriages performed online through the U.S. state of Utah. The ruling directs the Population and Immigration Authority within the Interior Ministry to register these marriages, which are generally conducted via Zoom or Skype, as an alternative to a religious ceremony conducted through the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. These “Utah marriages” became popular after a 2020 rule change in the U.S. state made...
(JTA) - The fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic is just days away, as players and fans across the globe prepare for two weeks of competition beginning on Wednesday. Jewish fans may remember that Israel took the WBC by storm in 2017, winning four straight games as an underdog and advancing to the second round before being eliminated by Japan. Team Israel is back for the 2023 WBC, with more current MLB talent on its roster than ever. It will also face its toughest competition yet. First...
(JTA) — Following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, federal regulators have shuttered Signature Bank, whose chairman, Scott Shay, is a major donor to Jewish causes. The New York-based bank was closed on Sunday, two days after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, stoking panic in the markets and assurances from President Joe Biden on Monday that the banking system was safe. Both Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank shut down because of depositor runs on their holdings. In Signature’s case, the run was triggered by concerns that the bank was o...
(JNS) - A sheriff in Central Florida made it loud and clear that white supremacists are not welcome following a series of antisemitic incidents in Volusia County and adjacent areas. "When you are trying to crush a radical group of cowardly scumbags, unity and sunshine destroy it," said Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County in Central Florida on the eastern coast, which includes the popular resort cities of Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach, at a press conference on Feb. 27. "We stand beside one...
(JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met separately on Tuesday with U.S. Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), stressing to them the importance of the bilateral relationship and that America is the Jewish state’s “greatest friend.” Netanyahu told the lawmakers that despite any disagreements between Jerusalem and Washington, such meetings were an expression of the strength of ongoing bipartisan ties with Israel. Among the topics discussed were the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords and their possible expa...
(JNS) - An historical marker will be dedicated on Sunday, March 12, in Casselberry to recognize and honor Jewish American actress Hedy Lamarr. Lamarr is considered by many Hollywood historians as one of the most beautiful and best actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She made multiple films opposite some of the greatest Hollywood male talents-Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon and Spencer Tracy, to name a few. She was a Jewish refugee from Austria who escaped the Holocaust after having known...
Following up on his promise made to Rabbi Konikov of Chabad of South Orlando and the entire Central Florida Jewish community, Rep. Darren Soto reached out to the United States Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to seek an investigation into the antisemitic actions committed by the Goyim Defense League a couple weeks ago in southwest Orlando, the Lake Nona area and Volusia County. “I write to express my concern with incidents perpetrated against the Jewish community in Central Florida by the ‘Goyim Defense League.’ I respectfully request your...
Kick off the spring season by booking Saturday Night Out at the Rosen JCC. The Rosen JCC offers Saturday Night Out as a way for parents to take a break and plan a night out without the kids. Kids have the opportunity for their own night of fun and games. The kids can play games; do art projects, read and playground time. The highlight of the night is a movie and pizza. This is open to the entire community and not just JCC members. Book your spot for infants – 6th graders. This month it will run on March 25, 6 p.m.-11 p.m. Register early b...
A grand opening reception will be held on March 23, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. for the newest exhibition, “The Memory Project: Finding Kalman and Never Again - Again.” The program will feature Roz Jacobs and Laurie Weisman. The two exhibits combine video imaging, paintings, and survivor testimony to evoke the life of a child killed during the Holocaust and spirits of six individuals who survived the genocide in Rwanda. The exhibition demonstrates the power of creativity and connection in the face of tragedy. The exhibits, presented in part by Unite...
Registration is open for the White Rose Essay Contest, offered by The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center. This year’s I nspiration draws from the PBS Documentary by Ken Burns, “The U.S. and the Holocaust” to answer the question “did the U.S. have a responsibility to intervene during the Holocaust?” The deadline for submissions is March 20. The Top Student prize is $1,000; Top Teacher prize is $500. The top finalists for each category will be recognized at the Yom HaShoah Commemoration on April 18. For more information and to re...
(JTA) — Judging from the photos and the tweets, it looked like a set of normal Congressional delegations to Israel: Senators posing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. ambassador declaring that “Bipartisanship is alive and well in Israel!!” Pledges of mutual support amid external threats. Sen. Chuck Schumer standing arm-in-arm with Netanyahu, grinning. But these are not normal times in Israel, where the Netanyahu government is advancing legislation to sap the power of the judiciary, drawing hundreds of thousands of peopl...
(JTA) — Ohio’s department of education is investigating a homeschooling network that claims public schools are run by “Zionist scum,” teaches kids to say “Sieg Heil” in class and instructs fellow parents not to give their kids “Jewish media content.” These are the more than 2,500 members of the “Dissident Homeschool Network,” a channel on the social network messaging app Telegram. The “dissidents” are a group of Nazi parents who share homeschooling lesson plans extolling the virtues of Hitler and white nationalism — while relying on a popula...
(JTA) — Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd bassist who is a leading proponent of the movement to boycott Israel, has been blocked from performing in Frankfurt after the city called him “one of the world’s most well known antisemites.” Waters had been scheduled to perform May 28 at Frankfurt’s Festhalle, which during the Holocaust was the site of the deportation of 3,000 Jews to their deaths just after Kristallnacht. The city of Frankfurt noted the historical significance of the concert hall, which it partly owns, in announcing that it was canceling...
(New York Jewish Week) — American Eagle Outfitters now has a mezuzah on the front door of its flagship Times Square location, courtesy of Chabad, the Hasidic outreach movement. The parchment with Jewish holy text in an oblong metallic case, traditionally a marker of a Jewish home or establishment, was affixed on the apparel brand’s door as part of the recently concluded convention of CTeen, Chabad’s youth group. At a concert in Times Square on Saturday night, thousands of teens from more than 30 countries gathered to sing Jewish songs — and...
The annual Pavilion Golf Society golf tournament will be held on Monday, May 8, at Heathrow Country Club. Hosted by the Jewish Pavilion and benefiting the Orlando Senior Help Desk, this popular tournament offers golfers a breakfast followed by a round of golf on a beautiful, private golf course. After completing the 18 holes in teams of four, participants will be treated to a gourmet luncheon and can win raffle prizes and bid on exciting gifts in a silent auction. The money raised helps support the Orlando Senior Help Desk, a free hotline...
